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Follow your senses to up your game

Turkey meat loaf with a tomato-spinach sauce can be prepped in 20 minutes and bakes for and hour and a half. (William DeShazer/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Before you slice into a tomato, chop an onion, pull out a skillet, before you even turn on the stove turn on your senses.

Your ability to use all your senses - to see, hear, smell, feel and taste - may be the simplest way to up your culinary cred.

"To ignore that is to deprive yourself of some of the natural, most basic pleasures of the craft," said Lauren Braun Costello, New York-based chef-stylist and cookbook author during a phone chat. Most important, she said, learn to taste.

"You peel a carrot. It feels firm, and you say OK, it's crunchy. You bite into it, and it's not that sweet, it's not that full of flavor or it has an odd texture. You're tasting before you start cooking," said Costello, who has written "Notes on Cooking" and "The Competent Cook." "You're a conductor and you've got all these musical instruments and you're going to create a melody. You have to really taste and see and feel and touch and smell how all that is coming together."

For Marcus Samuelsson, chef at restaurants Aquavit, in New York, and C-House, in Chicago, that might mean incorporating vinegar or lime juice into a savory sauce to brighten its flavor.

1. Heat water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; turn off the heat. Add the couscous; cover and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder and thyme; simmer until the tomatoes are broken down and softened to a sauce, about 25 minutes.3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove 1 cup of the tomato sauce; let it cool. Let the rest of the tomato sauce continue to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.4. Meanwhile, combine the 1 cup tomato sauce with couscous, egg and turkey. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste. Shape the mixture into a loaf. Arrange the loaf on a parchment-lined sheet pan; bake 1 hour.5. Five minutes before the meatloaf is ready, reheat the tomato sauce. Fold the spinach and basil into the sauce. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce with the meatloaf.